Brilliant hues of blue and gold are smeared across Saturn’s cloud tops in this view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using near-infrared data that the spacecraft collected just before it passed through Saturn’s ring plane in December of 2012. [See the album.]
Boeing’s Heat Shield Put to the Test
Credit: Boeing
A heat shield for Boeing’s new CST-100 Starliner space capsule undergoes qualification testing at the company’s Huntington Beach Facility in California. The spacecraft will be used to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. [See the album.]
Happy New Year from the International Space Station!
An international crew of three NASA astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and one Japanese taikonaut celebrate the new year at the International Space Station by sharing a meal in their festive (and matching) Expedition 54 T-shirts. [See the album.]
A Spiral in Space
Credit: European Southern Observatory
Like a wheel within a wheel, this dazzling barred spiral galaxy (called NGC 1398) is sculpted by ribbons of dust and gas in this view captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The galaxy is 65 million light-years away in the constellation The Furnace (Fornax). [See the album.]
Happy New Year from Space!
Credit: JAXA/Norishige Kanai
Astronaut Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) celebrated the New Year of 2018 with this photo of a sunrise from the International Space Station on his Twitter. [See the album.]
Jupiter Clouds Look Blue
Credit: Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran
Jupiter’s swirling cloud tops look like a sheet of blue velvet in a new image from NASA’s Juno probe. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran created the image using raw data from the JunoCam instrument on Juno. [ Blue Velvet: Jupiter’s Cloud Tops Appear Azure in New Juno Image ]
Perseus Cluster
Credit: NASA/ESA/CXO/Oxford University/NRAO/AUI/University of Montreal
The nature of dark matter might be revealed by studying a strange emission coming from the Perseus galaxy cluster. This composite image of the celestial region blends X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue) with optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (pink) and radio-emission data from the Very Large Array (red) in New Mexico. [ Mysterious X-Ray Emission May Reveal Nature of Dark Matter ]
Skywatchers got a glimpse of a spectacular full moon this New Year’s Day — the largest the moon will appear in 2018. Tyler S. Leavitt captured this image of the bright full moon in the cloudy Las Vegas sky on Jan. 1, 2018. [ Biggest Full Moon of 2018 Shines in Spectacular New Year’s Photos ]
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The concreted breech chamber of a cannon was recovered from Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s flagship that he used during his career as a pirate from 1717 to 1718. The ship ran aground off the coast of North Carolina 300 years ago. [Read more about the Blackbeard book fragments]
After cleaning
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Underwater archaeologists have been excavating the site of Queen Anne’s Revenge for two decades. The breech chamber, shown here after cleaning, is among hundreds of thousands of artifacts found at the wreck.
Surprise inside
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
During cleaning, this wad of material, covered in dark black sludge was found inside breech chamber. While soaking the contents, conservators realized the material consisted of fragments of printed text, a rare find from sunken ships.
Dry text
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
In total 16 pieces of paper were found. After the fragments were dried, conservators tried to transcribe the text.
Matched page
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Text of one paper fragment is shown matched to text from a page in Edward Cooke’s 1712 travelogue and adventure tale, A voyage to the South Sea around the world.
The giveaway
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
What led researchers to Edward Cooke’s book was the distinct place name of Hilo, Peru. The book could have belonged to one of Blackbeard’s crew members, or was perhaps stolen from one of the merchant ships the pirates plundered.
5 Major Archaeology Discoveries to Look for in 2018
By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor |
The Dead Sea Scrolls on display at Qumran in 2010.
Credit: Shutterstock
The burial of a warrior who lived and (literally) died by the sword, a new tomb in the Valley of the Kings and a cave that may have held Dead Sea Scrolls — these are just some of the big archaeology and history stories that we think we may hear about in 2018. Look back at the predictions for2017 and 2016 to see our track record.
Fantastic new burial in Greece
The tomb of a warrior who was killed by the slice of a sword has already been discovered in Greece. At least four other people were buried with the warrior. The five people were buried with gold and silver rings, ivory-handled swords, a gold-decorated dagger and many other artifacts.
Yet the public never heard a word about this fantastic discovery because the area where the tomb is located has been hit hard by looters. Archaeologists do not want to disclose information about the tomb until excavations are finished and the site can be better secured.
In 2018, the security situation may improve enough for this discovery to be discussed in more detail. Until then, no pictures have been released, and Live Science decided not to publish the site’s location or more information. [The 25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth]
13th Dead Sea Scrolls cave?
In 2017, a new Dead Sea Scrolls cave was found near the site of Qumran. The cave had been plundered in the 1950s or 1960s, but archaeologists found a blank scroll when they excavated it recently. This is the 12th cave found near Qumran that once held Dead Sea Scrolls. The other 11 caves were discovered in the 1940s and 1950s. [In Photos: New Dead Sea Scrolls Revealed]
The discovery of the 12th cave made headlines around the world, but that find is unlikely to be the end of the story. The team that found the 12th cave is surveying several other caves that could potentially hold additional Dead Sea Scrolls, Live Science has learned. This survey is being carried out as part of a larger project by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The IAA is racing to identify and excavate any caves in the Judaean Desert that may contain archaeological remains, because several looters operating in the Judaean Desert have been caught by authorities over the past few years. Some of the looters were found carrying the remains of possible scrolls.
Given that the survey is ongoing and that several potential Dead Sea Scrolls caves have already been identified, it wouldn’t be surprising to see in 2018 that a 13th Dead Sea Scroll has been discovered near Qumran.
Prehistoric-site discoveries in Saudi Arabia
2017 brought news of some fantastic prehistoric-site discoveries in Saudi Arabia. In August, Live Science reported that 46 prehistoric sites, some possibly more than 1 million years old, had been discovered in Saudi Arabia. The findings were made by researchers with the Palaeodeserts Project, which aims to better understand Saudi Arabia’s human and environmental past.
In November 2017, the country held the “1st Saudi Archaeology Convention,” in which research from across the kingdom was presented. In 2018, we can expect to hear of new prehistoric-site discoveries, as well as finds from more recent time periods, in Saudi Arabia.
Four I-type gates, as archaeologists call them, can be seen in this photo.
Credit: 1- APAAME, APAAME_20171027_DLK-0298
Valley of the Kings
Much research has been going on in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in recent years, and 2018 may see new discoveries in the valley.
In July, Live Science reported that archaeologists had identified an area near the tomb of the pharaoh Ay (1327-1323 B.C.) that has four foundation deposits and a radar reading that could indicate the presence of a tomb. Another group of archaeologists has carried out surveys of the western part of the Valley of the Kings in recent years. A third team, this one from the University of Basel, in Switzerland, is currently analyzing and publishing the finds from KV 40, a tomb in the Valley of the Kings where dozens of mummies were discovered in 2014.
Additionally, Live Science has received unconfirmed reports of fieldwork going on right now in the Valley of the Kings that may lead to the discovery of a new tomb. Given all of this activity, it’s quite possible that 2018 will bring stunning new discoveries, possibly including that of a new tomb, in the Valley of the Kings.
Science versus looters
In 2018, scientists will be working on many technologies and solutions to address the worldwide problem of looting. They include robots that can go into dangerous looter tunnels and assess damage that looters have done, dogs that sniff out artifacts that are being smuggled into the U.S., and software that can identify stolen artwork that thieves are trying to sell.
Countries that are dealing with wars and economic and political strife are hit the hardest by looting. Looters have gunned down antiquities guards, and children have been killed while working (typically for little money) in narrow tunnels.
The Most Interesting Science News Articles of the Week
By Live Science Staff |
Each week we uncover the most interesting and informative articles from around the world, here are 10 of the coolest stories in science this week.
Blowing Glass Away
This flat metalens can focus nearly the entire visible spectrum of light in the same spot and in high resolution.
Credit: Jared Sisler/Harvard SEAS
Physics could soon make it possible to replace those bulky, heavy, glass lenses on cameras with wafer-thin “metalenses” — materials microscopically engineered to focus light at a fraction of the weight and size of traditional lensing.
A metalens takes a different approach to focusing light. Instead of exploiting the diffraction properties of glass, a metalens uses nanofins — tiny structures, typically made of titanium dioxide — to bend wavelengths toward the metalens focal point. [Read more about the technology.]
Blackbeard’s Book Club?
Text of one paper fragment is shown matched to text from a page in Edward Cooke’s 1712 travelogue and adventure tale.
Credit: Courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
A discovery from the wreck of Blackbeard’s ship could offer some insights into pirate reading tastes. [Read more about the discovery.]
Game of Thrones in Real-Life
A team of researchers in New Zealand is working to make an astonishing and mysterious medieval document available for public consumption.
The first results of the researchers’ work already appear online in an interactive version of the scroll, where individual passages come alive with their translations as readers zoom and click on them. [Read more about the scroll.]
Creation of Earth in Rock?
When water levels in the pond are low, the Tetzacualco can be seen.
Credit: Arturo Cruz, Terrasat Cartografía
A 1,000-year-old stone structure in Mexico may represent how some people in ancient Mesoamerica believed the Earth was created, an archaeologist suggests.
Given what the archaeologists have found so far, Hernández Bautista hypothesizes that the Tetzacualco’s large size and location in the middle of a pond mean that the structure is an attempt to represent a mythical creature known as Cipactli or Çipaqli, a fish monster from which the gods created the Earth, according to some ancient Mesoamerican legends. [Read more about the ancient structure.]
Celebrated Old Clay
A photo reveals the face of the thin clay seal.
Credit: Courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority
Archaeologists have discovered a 2,700-year-old clay stamp near Jerusalem’s Western Wall that seems to shed some light on the political structure of the ancient society that inhabited the city.
The 0.5 by 0.6-inch (13 by 15 millimeters) clay stamp depicts two figures facing one another above archaic Hebrew script that reads “לשרער” (roughly: l’sar’ir). The researchers said that the word is a condensed version of the phrase “לשר העיר,” (l’sar ha-ir) which means “belonging to the governor of the city.” [Read more about the piece of clay.]
Sinking Ocean
Satellite data enables scientists to map the seafloor, which is sinking under the weight of rising seas. (This map shows gravity anomalies in the western Indian Ocean.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
The bottom of the ocean is more of a “sunken place” than it used to be.
Scientists have long known that Earth’s crust, or outer layer, is elastic: Earlier research revealed how Earth’s surface warps in response to tidal movements that redistribute masses of water; and 2017’s Hurricane Harvey dumped so much water on Texas that the ground dropped 0.8 inches (2 centimeters), the Atlantic reported. [Read more about the ocean bottom.]
Weird Dimming Explained
An artist’s illustration depicting a hypothetical dust ring orbiting Tabby’s star, more formally known as KIC 846.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Well, we always knew the alien-megastructure idea was a long shot.
For the past two-plus years, astronomers have been trying to figure out what, exactly, is going on with Tabby’s star. A number of potential explanations have been floated, from orbiting comet fragments, to a huge dust cloud between Earth and KIC 8462852, to energy-collecting structures built by an advanced alien civilization. [Read more about alien megastructure.]
“Raw Water”
Would you like your water sparkling, from the tap or hauled out of an unsterilized river upstate? For proponents of the expensive new drinking trend known as “raw water,” the choice is as clear as a Poland Spring.
According to the Times, part of the movement’s success may come from that very “off the grid” appeal: Raw water passes through no federal or municipal pipes, contains no additives (such as fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral typically added to tap water to fight tooth decay), and generally receives no filtration, ensuring every bottle remains as mineral-rich as Mother Nature intended. [Read more about the trend.]
Rewriting American Settlement
Discovery and excavation of the Upward Sun River infants
Credit: Ben Potter
A genetic analysis of a baby’s remains dating back 11,500 years suggests that a previously unknown human population was among the first to settle in the Americas.
Many thousands of years ago, the site where the infant lived — albeit briefly — and died was a residential camp with three tent-like structures. [Read more about the first Americans.]
Deciphering Egyptian Messages
Researchers use a highly sensitive imaging system to examine a coffin lid.
Credit: Copyright Cerys Jones
About 2,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians made homemade wrappings for mummies from “recycled” scraps of paper that people had first used to scribble down shopping lists and personal notes.
In ancient Egypt, mummies were embalmed and then wrapped in fabric bandages. Then, they were covered with cartonnage, a paper-mache material made from recycled papyri and sometimes fabric, Gibson said. Once the cartonnage hardened and was covered with plaster, artisans painted it. [Read more about the camera.]
Amazing Images: The Best Science Photos of the Week
By Livescience.com, staff |
Each week we find the most interesting and informative articles we can and along the way we uncover amazing and cool images. Here you’ll discover 10 incredible photos and the stories behind them.
Falling Iguanas:
It’s snowing iguanas in Florida. The good news is they probably aren’t dead.
As a powerful bomb cyclone winter storm curls across the U.S. East Coast this morning (Jan. 4), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-East satellite is snapping stunning images of the Earth’s surface.
An intense “bomb cyclone” is battering the U.S. East Coast today (Jan. 4), with high winds and intense snowfall forecast for the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states. See the latest views from NASA and NOAA here.
For the past four years, a mysterious syndrome has been killing millions of sea stars along the West Coast, turning the five-armed critters into piles of goo. But now, the sea stars appear to be making a comeback, according to news reports.
